Sunday, March 27, 2016

More Light in Masonry

Do you have a Masonic Temple that is outwardly unremarkable, that thousands of cars drive past every day without knowing it's there?

I learned this in film school: lighting is everything.

So many lodges over the years have given up their former (and usually grander, or at least more distinctive) temple buildings, and moved into pole barns or other far simpler structures that, unfortunately, just seem to fade into the surrounding landscape.

This lodge either deliberately or accidentally came up with a simple bit of yard art combined with a single light that makes this otherwise plain wall jump out and announce that the local Masons inside are alive and well. You sure can't miss it.

(I believe this is St. Clair Lodge No. 24 in Belleville, Illinois, but unfortunately, their old website hasn't been updated in 12 years, and I don't find a Facebook page, either. If somebody knows for sure, please let me know.)

If you need to be depressed, the Grand Lodge of Georgia has posted pictures of all its lodges.

http://www.glofga.org/index.php/media-library/lodge-photos

So sad. in all their years, nobody has planted a shrub or tree to commemorate a brother, or thought how paint could make a huge difference. Sterility, the ultimate sullenness in architecture, reflecting the bankruptcy of Georgia masonry -- and repeated in other southern states. Rednecks and bigots revealed in bricks and mortar.

Come on, Paul. Southern Masons don't have a corner on letting their temples look abandoned. Freemasons of a certain age have deep pockets and short arms, and they just aren't going to put up a dime to improve their facilities. How many times have I heard during a discussion proposing landscaping, repainting, adding lighting or signage that it's the "internal not the external qualifications..."

You are certainly right that, as you well put it. there has been an universal exodus from stately buildings to suburban sheds. In many cases. a smart businessman has then taken the building, restored its glories, and even ironically rented it back to us when we needed to put on something nice. But if you look at similar photo collections -- for example the Massachusetts Eastern Star has a great one because they meet in Masonic temples, -- the Georgia lodges win the competition for the abandoned unloved look. You are right however that in general the lodges everywhere are likely to be available for the next community haunted house fundraiser without needing any decorating. It reflects the general situation, which is of a community with exceptionthat has abandoned it heritage.

ATTENTION!Kindly sign your comment posts. Anonymous postings on Masonic topics have the same status as cowans and eavesdroppers, as far as I am concerned, and may be deleted if I don't recognize you or if I'm in a grumpy mood.

A mythic past. A visionary future. A legendary brotherhood.

Freemasonry is the world's largest, oldest and best-known gentleman's fraternity. It is based on the medieval stonemason guilds who built the great castles and cathedrals of Europe. Modern Freemasons likewise use the tools, traditions and terminology of those earlier stonemasons as allegories for building Temples in the hearts of men.

It's said that we are a secret society. We do indeed have secrets—secrets that each individual man has to discover for and about himself.

At its core, Freemasonry is simply an attempt to make the world a better place, one man at a time. For that man, it can become as simple or as complicated as he himself desires. It's not for everybody. Maybe it's for you.

"Brother Chris Hodapp's [blog]...is thought provoking and is often the first place on the web where new ideas and matters of interest are posted."

He received his college education at Indiana University, the University of Southern California, Los Angeles Valley College, California State University at Northridge, and Indiana/Purdue University at Indianapolis.

Chris spent twenty-three years in advertising as a commercial filmmaker for Dean Crow Productions, shooting and editing close to 1,000 commercials, music videos and feature films. He has written scripts for corporate and non-profit clients, and his voice has appeared in countless television and radio commercials.

He was the editor and a contributor in 2004-5 to "Laudable Pursuit: A 21st Century Response to Dwight Smith"by the Knights of the North, a Masonic leadership think-tank focussing on modern lodge solutions. He has written for Indianapolis Monthly, Masonic Magazine, Templar History, the Scottish Rite Journal, the Knight Templar Magazine, the Indiana Freemason , the Phylaxis, and numerous other publications.

Hodapp and Alice Von Kannon developed episode outlines for the History Channel program, Brad Meltzer's Decoded in 2010, and contributed material on conspiracies and secret societies for TruTV and the American Heroes Channel. They have both appeared on National Public Radio, the History Channel, Discovery, National Geographic, Smithsonian, and the American Heroes Channel - most recently in 2017 on America: Facts vs Fiction.

He and Alice live in Indianapolis with their very French poodle, Wiley.

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